Just Another Memory
by szhismine
Summary: POV of six crewmembers, plus one other. Character death! Angst, too. edited for spaces, is now easier to read


Sorry again, no space inbetween paragraphs. bear with me!  
  
title: Just Another Memory  
  
rating: PG-13  
  
disclaimer: i do not, in any form, own andromeda.  
  
author's note: this fic is in 7 parts. each part has a different POV (Point of View) of all 6 crew members, plus one POV of another guy. i will be posting all the parts separately. at the beginning of each part i'll write whose POV it is so you won't get confused.  
  
spoilers: Bunker Hill, To Loose The Fateful Lightning ( a bit)  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
HARPER  
  
I'm dead.  
  
Funny, isn't it? One minute you're trying to restore the Systems Commonwealth, the next you're a corpse.  
  
It's a real kick in the pants.  
  
Who would have thought that I, Seamus Zelazny Harper, would die?  
  
It started when Beka suggested shore leave. It's been a while, we were under stress, and it would be fun. All the usual excuses for a vacation. Everyone thought it was a great idea, until I suggested where we could go.  
  
Nemesis.  
  
The biggest waves in the known worlds, I said.  
  
Also the most deadliest, as tyr was so kind to point out.  
  
I just rolled my eyes.  
  
Fourunately for me, Dylan agreed with my idea. And he's the captain, so off we went to Nemesis.  
  
When we arrived on Nemesis, Dylan saw exactly how big the waves were.  
  
They were pretty big.  
  
Due to the wind and gravity of the three moons, Nemesis has the biggest waves you could see, over two hundred feet.  
  
Dylan forgot.  
  
So while everyone was strolling around, I took my surfboard and headed for Seance beach.  
  
After fifteen minutes of arguing with Beka, Dylan, and Tyr.  
  
Now I think I should have listened to them.  
  
So here I am, looking down at them from the clouds. The spokesperson for the surfing competition looks excited. I heard him say something about publicity. Figures.  
  
It's not so bad up here. I saw two people who look familiar. As I look at them, I realize that they're my cousins, Declan and Siobhan. As I look around, I see the rest of my family who died, including my parents. Brendan isn't with them. I take that as a good sign. So, I guess i'm stuck here. My only wish is that I don't go down as just another memory.  
  
Beka  
  
He's dead.  
  
And it's my fault. My fault!  
  
When the spokesperson said Harper died, I didn't believe him. There must have been some mistake.  
  
There wasn't.  
  
Apparantely there was a four hundred foot wave. Twenty people were killed. Including Harper.  
  
When Trance "died", Rev told me not to blame myself. So I won't this time. It's Dylan's fault for approving shore leave. It's Harper's fault for suggesting Nemesis. It's Gerentex's fault for hiring us to salvage the Andromeda. It's the nietzschean's fault for destroying the Commonwealth.  
  
It's the Vedran's fault for creating the Commonwealth.  
  
Okay, I know I'm exaggerating, but I can't blame myself.  
  
I can, but I won't.  
  
I'll miss him. He had this . . . charm, that's hard to describe. I liked him.  
  
Despite his annoying, over-confident, disgusting, emotionally-abused personality, I liked him.  
  
Weird, huh?  
  
I just noticed I was using the past tense. It's pathetic. He just died. It's worse than when I was on flash.  
  
Flash.  
  
Harper tried to help me when I was on flash. And I threatened to dump him back on Earth if he wouldn't shut up.  
  
Maybe using the past tense isn't as worse as when I was on flash.  
  
Well, if the Divine exists, he's in a better place. Hopefully.  
  
The spokesperson looks happy. He said something about publicity.  
  
Moron.  
  
Since when is twenty people dying publicity?  
  
The people in the jet skis are looking for the corpses since the tides are low. They already found five. Obviously they died horrible deaths.  
  
I hope Harper is in peace.  
  
Dylan  
  
Accidents happen.  
  
That's what I keep telling myself. It was an accident the nietzschean ambush got past me and I was frozen in time. That was an accident, this was an accident.  
  
Not very reassuring.  
  
Neither is the spokesperson. All the crap he's saying about publicity.  
  
I sincerely hope Tyr shoots him.  
  
I've lost many people close to me. Sara, my old crew, my relatives, my friends, and now Harper. But I feel more remorse to Harper than to everyone else.  
  
And I don't feel guilty about it.  
  
I'm very close to Harper. I'm also the one that takes him the most granted. He fixes the ship and saves our lives, I know he exists.  
  
Not much of a contract.  
  
And if he had to die, he could have at least died going down fighting a space battle.  
  
When the Maru crew signed on, they knew the risks. They knew they could die fighting for what they believe for.  
  
Not dying while having fun on a much needed vacation.  
  
And Harper was-is a fighter, he grew up on Earth.  
  
I know he's dead, but I hate using the past tense.  
  
He could have died many times these past two years Especially when he was infested with magog eggs. Not when he's least expecting it.  
  
He deserved that much.  
  
I like him. He's a good friend.  
  
Ha. No past tense there.  
  
After I gave him the recording of his cousin, I seriously felt like soluting him. There were a lot of things I wanted to tell him. And now he's gone.  
  
I regret not keeping my promise to help him free Earth. I know deep down he hated me for it. personally, I'm surprised he didn't punch me. Now I almost wish he had.  
  
The Divine has a twisted sense of humor.  
  
Tyr  
  
So, the little professor died.  
  
How ironic.  
  
Frankly, I'm not surprised. We warned him, we cautioned him, and now he's dead.  
  
Yet a part of me . . . mourns his death.  
  
Frankly, I'm surprised.  
  
He's a kludge. He should have been dead a long time ago. He should have died on Earth, taken as a slave or killed and eaten by Magog, but he wasn't.  
  
I admire that.  
  
He may be a kludge, but he's also a fighter, a warrior if you will. Like he's from a pride long extinct, long forgotten, trying to prove his genetic worth.  
  
Like me.  
  
He faced death head-on. He faced it, and defeated it.  
  
But death has caught him behind the back.  
  
When he was infested with Magog eggs, I knew someone would have to kill him. When I made that promise, I only did it to humor him. I did not expect the Magog to over-run us, infest us with their eggs, and take us to their World Ship.  
  
Clearly I was wrong.  
  
When I realized I might have to carry out that promise, I took it harder than I should have.  
  
The damn spokesperson isn't helping any. Publicity. Ha! I would kill him if it weren't for the crowd. I want to shoot him. I think he knew the waves would be this big. He set everyone up! I believe I will kill him. I know Dylan will let me. But not in this crowd. Later.  
  
The thought of killing someone comforts me.  
  
But I still wonder why the little man had to die.  
  
If the Divine exists, I hope Harper is with him.  
  
I will miss him, I admit that. I hope wherever he is he has all his comforts of the ship.  
  
The drinks, the machines, the friends.  
  
If I were to lament him, I would say:  
  
He was my colleague. My friend.  
  
My brother.  
  
Trance  
  
I could have stopped it.  
  
I could have stopped hiim from dying. I knew it would happen. I knew it would happen hours before Beka suggested shore leave. I could have stopped it, but I didn't.  
  
Now I feel like telling someone, but I can't. They'll be too angry. They trusted my judgement before, they would have understood. And it would have saved Harper from a terrible fate.  
  
Flux always said, "never get involved with the simplest form of matter."  
  
He was right for a change.  
  
I should not have became emotionally attached to them. They're just pawns in an eternal chess game, waiting to be struck down by the queen.  
  
The queen struck down pretty hard.  
  
And to think that I'm the queen.  
  
Moving on, I see Tyr glaring at the spokesperson, his hand twitching near his gun, while that idiotic moron goes on and on about publicity.  
  
He doesn't care about anyone's death, that son of a--  
  
Oh my God.  
  
It can't be. Please let this be a joke. I'm not the only one looking shocked. Dylan, Tyr, Beka, Rommie, they're all looking at the newly found corpse.  
  
It's Harper.  
  
Despite his numerous cuts and bruises, he looks peaceful;calm. His eyes are closed. He's so cute.  
  
I love him. And I never got to tell him. One of my greatest regrets.  
  
Regrets, regrets. Pointless, stupid, and important, Flux also said. He has a point. But I don't see how they're important.  
  
I suddenly realize tears are rolling down my face. So does Beka, so does Rommie. Dylan and Tyr are hiding their emotions. For now.  
  
I wish things were different. There are so many other possibilities. I wish none of this had happened. I wish he was here with me.  
  
I almost wish I was with him.  
  
Rommie  
  
It's a simple mathematic equation. Three moons. Average mass twenty million kilograms. Average winds seventy miles per hour. The result: four hundred foot waves.  
  
But math doesn't justify death. No matter how simple or hard the equation.  
  
No one deserved to die. Especially not Harper.  
  
The spokesperson, on the other hand...  
  
Anyway, I shouldn't be feeling all these human emotions. When Harper made this body...  
  
Harper made this body. No wonder I'm so human. He gave me genuine emotions and needs. He gave me wit and sarcasm. He gave me love and sympathy.  
  
He gave me great lips.  
  
But that's beside the point. He was more than my engineer, he was my friend. He knew my secrets, and I knew his.  
  
I know he missed Earth, and I guess he still does. I know how much he wanted freedom for Earth. I saw him and Tyr fight against the Magog. I knew he was scared of dying.  
  
When I walked into Medical and saw Harper pointing a gun at himself, I panicked. For a split second, I thought I was too late. That was kind of stupid. But it's only human. Harper has always trusted and counted on me. He was always there for me. Not only as an engineer;as a friend. And I let him down.  
  
"Harper is closer to me than any engineer I've ever had", I once told Dylan. And I wasn't lying.  
  
Sure, he was annoying. Sure he was immature. Sure his satiracal jokes made me want to self-destruct. But I put up with it, because I care.  
  
Now I wish he was here with his jokes, his laughs and *ugh* even his Sparky.  
  
It's not fair. Why did he have to die? He hardly lived a quarter of his life.  
  
Oh great, now I'm crying. This body is too human.  
  
Thank you, Harper. Thank you for making me so human, even though I'm a machine.  
  
Like the Pax once said: What are the mathematics of tears?  
  
spokesperson  
  
Wow. What an exciting day! The biggest waves I ever saw. Hope they keep on coming!  
  
Okay, I shouldn't be so happy. Innocent people died. They didn't deserve that. They should still be alive and well.  
  
Not!  
  
No one is born innocent. They all deserved what they got.  
  
"It's publicity," I keep telling the news reporter. "Surfing is all about risk. You take the chance of the waves, and you deal with the consequences. That's what surfing is!"  
  
I think. I don't know how to surf.  
  
I find today has real meaning. One of the guys who died was an engineer. He worked on the Andromeda. Big ship to fix. He was probably over-worked. He needed this vacation.  
  
Dying was a...bonus.  
  
In my perspective.  
  
And it's his own damn fault for not being too careful. He was fifth out of twenty when he died. You would think the top ten would make it to safety.  
  
Apparantely they were dumber than I thought.  
  
Then again, only dumb people would come surfing on Nemesis.  
  
That's the strange thing about people: when someone dies, the people close to him are sad.  
  
It's only human.  
  
Wait, I'm human. All this stress is getting to me. That and the way the nietzschean is glaring at me. And the gold thing. Basically everyone.  
  
I just remembered that today all three mons are in enlignment, making the waves bigger.  
  
Oops. My bad.  
  
Which brings us back to the engineer. It seems his friends are taking his death hard. It sickens me. Why are people so nice to each other. It sucks. There's really no point.  
  
But no, they're mourning his death.  
  
I guess he had an important role to the ship, but it doesn't matter.  
  
He'll go down as just another memory.  
  
THE END 


End file.
